"With rapidly changing digital platforms and the impact of globalization on cultural diplomacy that has provoked the increasing mediatization of the field, non-state actors are now able to expand networks and gain legitimacy by addressing new publics using digital spaces. While the research about the use of social media as a vehicle for cultural diplomacy continues to increase, little work has been done reflecting on the potential of another digital medium: video games. This study intends to fill that gap by assessing video games’ potential to serve as tools for cultural engagement in cultural diplomacy programming. Using the video game Never Alone as a case study, this dissertation explores the opportunity to provide a digital third space where imagined contact can occur to foster cultural understanding. Never Alone is a puzzle platformer video game developed in collaboration with the Iñupiaq Alaska Natives to showcase their culture. The game’s inclusive development process also works to examine virtual third spaces as a site for decolonial action at the microlevel regarding the Iñupiaq and the video game industry and at the macrolevel regarding Inuit diplomacies. This research attempts to critically explore the possibility for non-state cultural diplomacy initiatives using video games as tools to shape perceptions about the world." (Abstract)